The steady rise in property value and demand for Scottish property over the past year has increased values in the country by +3%. Scotland’s annual salary average is £27,404, while the property average is £143,711 – five times higher than the wages on offer.

We included all 32 areas of the country in the research, which looked at the current average property price and the average wage in order to calculate the wage to house price ratio.

East Renfrewshire topped the list as Scotland’s most expensive region, with an average property price tag of £204,925, a +7% increase in the past 12 months. The average wage earned is £15,964, meaning the average house price is 13 times that of the average wage.

There a is three way tie in second place with East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh all with an average house price ten times the average wage. Edinburgh’s average salary of £25,012 far exceeds that of East Dunbartonshire (£18,564) and East Lothian (£19,500), with the average property price in the capital city increasing by 12% in the last year. However, the average wage is also higher in Edinburgh, which results in a similar house price to wage ratio in East Dunbartonshire and East Lothian.

The property value in East Dunbartonshire averages at £191,450 with a +7% rise over the last 12 months, but when compared to the average annual income, it would take ten years earning the same salary to be able to afford property in this area. Similarly, in East Lothian the average wage (£19,500) to average house price (£194,976) also means it would take 10 years to bridge the deficit between wage and house price.

Unlike England, Scotland does not suffer from as large a property to wage gap since the wages are more in line with the average house price. Therefore, the most affordable area falls to North Lanarkshire where the average house price (£97,875) is just five times the average salary (£21,684).

Scotland, as with many areas outside of London and the South East, offers far more realistic options for those looking to get on the ladder without sacrificing the money available to earn, due to the lower average house prices.

That said, with an average house price 5 times that of the average wage, it is far from realistic to expect the majority to get by in Edinburgh. This is the main reason we are seeing many forsake inner-city living and opting to live on the peripherals, so they can find affordable property with the option of commuting for a larger wage packet.